Sometimes, a normal walk in the woods just doesn’t cut it — we’ve created a letterboxing course to help you enjoy the woods and trails around our Ohio boutique hotel in a whole new way. Pick up the clues, hunt for the boxes and make your hike a little more exciting!
What is letterboxing? Part treasure hunt, part navigating and part hiking, letterboxers follow a set of clues to look for hidden boxes — a low-tech version of geocaching. Each letterbox contains a logbook and a unique stamp, so finders can mark their visit in the box’s logbook and in their own letterboxing journal.
Legend has it that letterboxing first started in southwestern England in the mid-1800s, when a guide on the Dartmoor moors left a calling card in a jar, and encouraged his guests to do the same.Throughout the years, others who found the jar also left self-addressed notes, postcards and calling cards inside it, in the hopes that the next visitor would return it by mail (this is also where the name comes from — a “letterbox” is a British term for mailbox). Later, letterboxing developed into a popular hobby, making its way to North America in the 1990s.
We’ve hidden four letterboxes around our hiking trails, and the clues are available at the Front Desk. Not only does letterboxing test your orienteering skills (and maybe your marriage), but it also encourages you to look more closely around our Amish Country property. Who knows what you might see!
When you do find a letterbox, the first thing to do is open it! Once you’ve stamped the unique stamp on your paper or notebook, carefully replace everything in the box, making sure the bags are sealed and the box is closed properly. Then, put it back exactly where you found it, ready for the next visitor to discover!
While you’re hunting please remember to stay on marked trails and be respectful of our natural environment, plants and animal life — it’s one of the most important letterboxing guidelines wherever you go.
If you’re new to letterboxing, we’ll provide a letterboxing kit to guests of The Inn at Honey Run with everything you need: a map of our trails, the clues, a clipboard with paper, an inkpad, and a compass. Our boxes don’t have their own logbooks, but in other places, many letterboxers carry a handmade signature stamp to leave their mark in the logbook.
Now that we’ve got you hooked on letterboxing, there are plenty of places to go letterboxing in Ohio and even a few in Amish Country. Good luck!